Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming the fabulous Valerie Haight to the blog! Valerie is a short story
writer and contemporary suspense and romance novelist. She is a member of
Ozarks Writer’s League through College of the Ozarks in Branson, MO and a published
author with Turquoise Morning Press.

Thank you so much for having me on your awesome blog, Hope!
I just bought HAVEN and I can’t wait to dive in! I love, Love, LOVE the
cover and I know the story is going to rock just as much. I’m super excited to
be here today to tell you about my first release!

Happenstance was
published by Turquoise Morning Press on December 13, 2012. *Merry Christmas to
me!*

I wrote this story using
some of the relationship conflict I witness at my day job as an assistant in a
corporate setting. Of course, I did what any decent writer would do. I took
note of the Peyton Place happenings and filed them away to form Happenstance! Here’s what resulted:

Taryn Ballard is happily
married and a newly appointed analyst for a prestigious shipping company.Her career upsurges in record time but she’s
about to discover the real price of corporate life.

While on yet another
business trip, Taryn suffers a brutal attack by a carjacker. Her husband isn’t
there, but her co-worker Devin is.The accidental bond Taryn
and Devin share pitches them into dangerous and confusing
territory. Taryn struggles to discern both her feelings for her sexy
protector and Wade's reaction to it all. Unfamiliar emotions blur the
rules of the game and Wade's ready to quit.

Taryn must rise above
disaster to save her marriage. But is she ready to let go of the man who saved
her life? In a single moment, Happenstance changes everything.

I
learned to like putting my MC’s through the wringer and when that happened, the
party was on. Taryn was so much fun to write because of her constant angst
while I wreaked havoc on both Devin and Wade. Yes, I’m awful. My favorite genres are suspense and romance so I couldn’t resist
merging them into Taryn’s story. Here’s a snippet to give you the feel of the
book.

“Devin, it’s Taryn. You were right. The execs want me to
meet them for dinner and I feel really foolish because I have a GPS and a
connect-the-dot map from the concierge and I’m still lost.”

Devin laughed. “Not a problem. Where are you?”

Taryn took a second to locate the green street sign. “At the
corner of First and Third at a tiny, ancient-looking convenience store.”

“Oh, I know the one. You’re right next to us. I could
probably see you from the tower window. Okay, which restaurant are you looking
for?”

Taryn grabbed the hand-drawn map. “Caminas.”

“I know where it is. Actually, it might be faster by freeway.”

“Of course it would. I just came from—”

An unexpected rush of damp, hot air hit her and Taryn
turned, confused to see her door open wide. She sucked in a quick breath and
saw too late the arm reaching for her. Terror gripped her as she zeroed in on
the gun in her face.

Tweet
with me @Valeriebrbr, follow me
onFacebook
or find out the latest on my Author Page
about my upcoming short stories Raeanne
Revealed in the Orange Karen Tribute Anthology out in
April and Magnolia Brides in a TMP wedding
anthology out in June!

You can also find Valerie scheming on the
corner of Happy Trouble and Literary Mayhem, also known as Twitter @Valeriebrbr. Her author page
on Facebook lists all the latest news on HAPPENSTANCE as well as her upcoming
short in a wedding anthology, MAGNOLIA BRIDES. She also gives way more than her
two cents on her website www.thewriteoneval.blogspot.com.
To purchase HAPPENSTANCE, click HERE!